16 April 2012

Ball Aerospace awards Emcore $6m solar panel manufacturing contract

Emcore Corp of Albuquerque, NM, USA, which makes components and subsystems for the fiber-optic and solar power markets, has been awarded a contract by Ball Corp subsidiary Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp (BATC) to design, manufacture, test and deliver solar panels for a new spacecraft. BATC designs and manufactures aerospace systems including spacecraft, instruments, RF & microwave technologies, and data exploitation solutions for governmental and commercial customers. The period of performance for the program is about two years, with a total contract value of nearly $6m.

The solar panels will be populated with Emcore’s ZTJ multi-junction solar cells, which are claimed to be the highest-performance space-grade solar cells in volume production available to the global market.

“Our proven manufacturing capability, technology leadership and high-reliability solar panels make Emcore the supplier of choice for demanding spacecraft power systems,” reckons Emcore’s chief operating officer Christopher Larocca.

With a beginning-of-life (BOL) conversion efficiency nearing 30% and the option for a patented, onboard monolithic bypass diode, Emcore’s multi-junction solar cells provide the highest available power to interplanetary spacecraft and earth-orbiting satellites, it is claimed.

Tags: Emcore Multi-junction solar cells

Visit: www.emcore.com

Visit: www.ballaerospace.com